How it all started
The celebrated talk show host is renowned for her 25 year- show The Oprah Winfrey Show.
"Winfrey excelled in the casual and personal talk-show format, and in 1984 she moved to Chicago to host the faltering talk show AM Chicago," online encyclopedia Britannica reports.
"Winfrey's honest and engaging personality quickly turned the program into a success, and in 1985 it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. Syndicated nationally in 1986, the program became the highest-rated television talk show in the United States and earned several Emmy Awards."
The report describes Oprah's path to the creation of a media empire, from the talk show to a network channel and multiple multi-million business deals.
In 1998, Oprah co-founded Oxygen Media which launched a cable television network for women.
"In 2006 the Oprah & Friends channel debuted on satellite radio. She brokered a partnership with Discovery Communications in 2008, through which the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) replaced the Discovery Health Channel in January 2011. In 2009 Winfrey announced that her television talk show would end in 2011; it was speculated that she would focus on OWN."
The media mogul has also had her fair share of film appearances and animation voice-lending roles.
"In 1985 Winfrey appeared in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Alice Walker's 1982 novel The Color Purple," Britannica notes, adding that her critically acclaimed performance led to other roles.
The report looks into some of the steps Oprah has followed to attain indisputable success.
It includes constantly reinventing herself, relating with her audiences, and not restricting herself to one medium.
"She never restricted herself to just one medium-television talk shows-but built an entire media empire spanning TV productions, films, magazines, a book club, the internet, lectures, and more. Unlike other journalists, she did not work as an employee for long; she built her own empire as a media entrepreneur," Forbes reports.
The media mogul looks on to the future with hope, calling every birthday a "new beginning."
"What lies ahead in the future, none of us knows, but I'm encouraging you to expect some delight. There will be challenges, of course, but lots of delight," she wrote on Oprah Daily.